1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the fields of packet processing and coherency.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the continued expansion of networks and networked systems (e.g. local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), the Internet, etc.), packet processing is an increasingly important function for a variety of systems. The amount of packet processing to be performed may be increasing due to the increased amount of packet traffic, as well as the more sophisticated packet processing that is being attempted on each packet (e.g. processing at deeper layers of the packet).
A packet processing system must therefore be capable of receiving packets for processing and transmitting processed packets (or newly generated packets). Additionally, it may be desirable for a packet processing systems to be scalable, so that the packet processing system may be expanded to handle increased packet processing responsibilities. Furthermore, efficiently handling the traffic within the packet processing system as it is scaled may be desirable.